NASA News 
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration

John F. Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center, Florida 32899
____________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________	
Dwayne Brown
For
Release:
Headquarters, Washington, DC
Jan.
18, 2000
				

Bruce Buckingham/Joel Wells

Kennedy Space Center, FL

KSC Release No. 7 - 00

LAUNCH DATE SET FOR SHUTTLE RADAR MAPPING MISSION 

	NASA managers today announced that Space Shuttle Endeavour
will launch no earlier that Jan. 31, on mission STS-99, pending resolution
of an ongoing orbiter tile evaluation and completion of other planned open
work. 

	Endeavour will spend 11 days in orbit making elevation
measurements of the Earth's surface. The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission
(SRTM) will use a measurement technique called interferometry to gather
images of a large majority of the Earth's surface; military planners,
aircraft designers, firefighters, weather forecasters and others will then
have use of this information.

	In order to gather these images, two antenna will be extended: one
in the orbiter's payload bay and the other from the end of a mast extended
60 meters (197 feet) out from the Shuttle. This 60-meter mast
will be the largest fixed structure ever flown in space. The resulting
three-dimensional images will generate the most complete topographic map
of the Earth's land surface ever produced.

	"We are excited to undertake this first mission of 2000 and
to utilize the SRTM aboard the Shuttle," said Space Shuttle Program
Manager Ron Dittemore. "The team has done a thorough job preparing
Endeavour for flight, and we're ready to start this new year as
successfully as we ended the last year."

	Endeavour's Jan. 31 launch window opens at 12:47 p.m. EST
and extends for 2 hours, 2 minutes. Landing is set to occur at Kennedy
Space Center on Feb. 11 at about 4:55 p.m.

	Endeavour's crew consists of Commander Kevin Kregel; Pilot
Dom Gorie; and Mission Specialists Janet Kavandi, Janice Voss, Mamoru
Mohri of the Japanese space agency (NASDA) and Gerhard Thiele of the
European Space Agency.


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